TAP asks whether California’s new primary system will actually result in a less polarized legislature:
Candidates who are able to get their message out are the ones who are able to raise the most money from established interests, be they unions on the Democratic side or business on the Republican side. And the ones who are able to get the most organizational support or the most endorsements are the ones who take the most extreme or strident positions on issues. It was only when Carly Fiorina got a message out that she became successful and Tom Cambell didn’t get a message out because he didn’t have the money to do it. Meg Whitman won among moderates as much as she won among conservatives. And it’s because she got a message out, she had more money than Steve Poizner to get a message out.
There’s no denying that party primaries cater to a more ideological voter, but it’s not the voters that are creating the polarization.